Although Nam Yeonsu was initially embarrassed by the actors’ request, he didn’t say he wouldn’t do it.
“Then shall we try this part?”
Jessica immediately picked up the script and pointed to a short scene featuring Jonathan, one made up of simple lines.
Nam Yeonsu said that although he’d never seen a performance of RUN, he’d seen the original work and had looked through the stage script before.
“Won’t it be difficult?”
I asked Nam Yeonsu when I saw that all the dialogue was in English.
After studying the script for a moment, Nam Yeonsu shook his head and smiled faintly.
“I’ll give it a try!”
Then he began concentrating on the script with almost frightening intensity.
When it comes to concentrating on a script, that’s Nam Yeonsu for you.
No matter how chaotic the set was, he could immediately immerse himself in the script.
Even most adult actors would have difficulty matching that level of concentration.
Come to think of it, Nam Yeonsu gets embarrassed, but he never backs down when someone asks him to act.
While Nam Yeonsu concentrated on the script, we decided to use the interval to continue rehearsing.
“Since we’ve got it open, shall we start rehearsing this scene today?”
“Sounds good.”
We went up onstage together to perform the scene Jessica had just shown Nam Yeonsu.
Gordon, who played opposite me, also stretched his body and took his place across from me.
At Jessica’s signal, we immediately began rehearsing.
After finishing the scene, I looked toward where Nam Yeonsu had been sitting.
He had already closed the script, apparently having memorized everything, and was enthusiastically applauding.
“Wow, that was really amazing, Siwoo.”
“Really? Now it’s your turn, hyung.”
At my words, Nam Yeonsu smiled and stood up.
Standing alone onstage, Nam Yeonsu gathered his emotions, then slowly raised his head.
“She ran away because of dad….”
His expression was filled with resentment, making it impossible to believe he was the same child who had been smiling so brightly just moments ago.
Then, from his eyes brimming with tears, a single large drop fell to the floor.
“My mom…”
And with that, Nam Yeonsu’s short performance of approximately five minutes came to an end.
“…”
“…”
For a while, the spacious rehearsal room was filled with nothing but silence.
“Bravo!”
Then one actor began clapping, and everyone erupted into loud cheers and applause.
“What the heck? I’m suddenly scared of Korea. Are all Korean child actors monsters like this?”
“They said he was Siwoo’s friend, and he’s incredible too!”
As praise continued pouring in, Nam Yeonsu scratched his head while stepping down from the stage.
He was so embarrassed earlier, but he’s surprisingly bold at times like this.
“Hehe, it’s not like we’re all that good. Siwoo and I are just particularly special.”
To think he can say something like that without even batting an eye.
“Oh, dear. If I’d known about Yeonsu’s acting skills a little sooner, I would have put him on Team B.”
Jo Yisu was startled by Jessica’s continued praise.
I was surprised too. I hadn’t expected Jessica to praise him quite this highly, so I turned to look at her.
“Jessica isn’t the sort of person who would say something like that even as a joke…”
“Exactly.”
Jo Yisu and I whispered to each other in astonishment.
Judging by that reaction, if Nam Yeonsu’s English had been perfect, he really might have ended up joining Team B.
I was beginning to understand why Seong Jihun had sought out Nam Yeonsu after seeing me when he was preparing the Korean production of RUN.
What would have happened if Nam Yeonsu had actually auditioned for RUN?
“Hmm, unfortunately, I couldn’t put you on Team A. After all, Siwoo’s already there.”
Nam Yeonsu smiled brightly at Jessica’s additional remark.
That’s Jessica for you. She doesn’t go easy on someone just because they’re a child.
“If I were chosen instead of Siwoo, I’d…… um, I’d start to suspect something.”
Nam Yeonsu spoke haltingly in English, then looked at me, apparently worried that he’d failed to convey what he meant.
I was slightly surprised by his bold words, but I nodded to let him know that his meaning had come across clearly.
Only then did Nam Yeonsu visibly relax and let out a relieved sigh.
“My goodness! What a confident, impressive little fellow!”
“Wow! Next time, you should come to Britain, Yeonsu. We’d be happy to welcome you!”
“Haha, thank you.”
At his words, the British actors cheered and gave Nam Yeonsu enthusiastic thumbs-ups.
After receiving so much praise from people he’d only just met, Nam Yeonsu seemed excited, his cheeks turning bright red.
I watched him with a pleased smile for a moment, but then I realized the meaning hidden in his earlier words.
Was he saying that he would question Jessica’s judgment?
Or… would he suspect that his father had exerted pressure behind the scenes?
Adults liked to believe that children knew nothing, but that was merely a convenient misconception.
And Nam Yeonsu, who had been thrown into the adult-dominated world of entertainment at such a young age, couldn’t possibly be unaware.
He must know what kind of power his father possessed and how he wielded that power in the broadcasting industry.
As long as Yeonsu could be proud of his own accomplishments, there would be no problem.
But if he was already carrying such thoughts in his heart at this young age…
When he eventually grows up and tries to stand on his own, will he be able to shake off those doubts, even if he’s fully qualified?
As my thoughts reached that point, I felt an inexplicable bitterness on my tongue.
The first time I had accomplished something through my own efforts in my previous life, when I was Noah.
The exhilaration of standing on the stage of the Oscar Theater and receiving the audience’s recognition and cheers, regardless of my background.
It wasn’t an achievement I could have enjoyed simply because I was the youngest son of the Battenberg family.
It was the precious sense of accomplishment that came from earning something through my own strength.
I hoped Nam Yeonsu would someday experience that feeling in its entirety.
But would he really be able to?
I asked myself that question.
Am I constantly worrying about him simply because that child is going through something similar to what I experienced in the past?
And then I realized something.
I wasn’t merely being haunted by the ghosts of my past.
I had simply come to understand what it meant to genuinely want to help someone else.
Just like the companions of the Oscar Theater Troupe who had helped the young Noah Battenberg discover a new world when he’d been trapped in his own narrow existence, not knowing what to do.
“Siwoo, how was I?”
Looking at Nam Yeonsu’s bright face as he asked me that question, I found myself wanting something more.
“You were incredible.”
I want to keep seeing that happy expression on the face of someone precious to me.
“Director, do you really think this will work as a variety show?”
Several days had passed since the entire variety show production crew arrived in Britain.
Since my performance run hadn’t ended yet, I devoted myself to rehearsals and performances every single day.
Nam Yeonsu, meanwhile, followed the original plan and traveled around Britain, filming on his own.
“Hm? What’s wrong all of a sudden?”
“No, it’s just that I wonder if something like this will really be entertaining. I’m starting to worry a little……..”
The two of us met every evening, and the cameras captured us chatting about all sorts of trivial things.
There were days when we were both tired and barely spoke, though.
Today, too, I’d finished rehearsing and was waiting for Nam Yeonsu to return from his trip to the outskirts of the city.
“Haha, you’re worrying over nothing.”
“What if Yeonsu hyung and I work really hard filming together, only for all of it to get edited out?”
“Don’t worry. We’ll edit it all together and turn it into a proper variety show.”
“No matter how I think about it… it feels too much like a documentary.”
That was what had started worrying me.
It was rather uneventful, simply capturing our everyday lives in a straightforward, matter-of-fact way.
Could something like this really become a marketable variety show?
Kim Sanho surely had something in mind, but I couldn’t help wondering whether the production staff might be going through all this trouble for nothing.
When I said it felt like a documentary, Kim Sanho looked at me for a moment before smiling.
Surprisingly, he pointed toward Mother, who was sitting beside me.
“Siwoo, if I were really planning to film a documentary, I wouldn’t dare do it in front of your mother.”
“What?”
What’s that supposed to mean?
At Kim Sanho’s remark, Mother hurriedly waved her hands in protest.
“Oh, goodness, that was so long ago….”
What?
I hardly ever see Mother this flustered.
“What is it? Hm?”
What’s going on here?
My head turned rapidly back and forth, eager to hear an explanation from either of them.
Kim Sanho, who had clamped his mouth shut at my reaction, glanced toward Mother and asked,
“Am I not supposed to tell him?”
Mother responded with an awkward smile.
Not wanting to miss my chance, I deliberately widened my eyes and quickly asked her again.
“Please tell me! Can’t I hear about it?”
In the end, Mother let out a small laugh and nodded.
Okay. Permission granted.
Now it’s your turn to talk, Mr. Kim Sanho.
“Siwoo might not know this, but among us producers, there’s nobody who doesn’t know the name of Senior Ji Yeonhwa. She’s an incredibly famous documentary producer.”
Oho.
Kim Sanho seemed to have been waiting for permission to speak, and his very first sentence was already fascinating.
So Kim Sanho was Mother’s junior in the industry?
I’d thought Mother seemed a little more comfortable around him than she did around other directors, and now I understood why.
“Woooow.”
“Oh, it wasn’t quite that…….”
Mother muttered something under her breath, apparently embarrassed, but Kim Sanho was only getting started.
“She was even called a young master of the craft. Youth, Once Again broke through a twenty-percent viewership rating back then, despite being a documentary. Wasn’t that right? That rating became an unprecedented record that no one has managed to break.”
“Youth, Once Again?”
Twenty percent?
For a documentary?
Even just hearing about it, I knew how extraordinary that was.
“That’s right. It had the subtitle ‘Only After the Sun Sets Does It Begin’.”
“Phew…”
As the explanation continued, Mother gave up trying to stop him and leaned back comfortably in her chair.
Seeing that, Kim Sanho laughed and shrugged.
“I watched that documentary so carefully, Senior. But to think Siwoo still doesn’t know about it!”
“What was it about?”
I turned my entire body toward Kim Sanho, determined to question him properly now that I had the chance.
“Ah, the story was about a parent’s day, one that only truly begins after they’ve finished raising their children and their own youth has faded. The subtitle had a double meaning: the youth of parents beginning anew only after their own youth has come to an end.”
“Wow.”
“Youth, Once Again was incredibly popular at the time because it was a documentary that resonated with both parents and children.”
It was that successful…!
I’ll have to look it up as soon as we get back to Korea.
Mother must have been quite embarrassed to hear herself praised right in front of her, because she suddenly interrupted to change the subject.
“It really wasn’t anything that extraordinary… Siwoo, you had trouble getting up this morning. Are you feeling better now?”
“Mm-hmm! I’m fine.”
“Hmm, I’d like to make sure you have something hearty for dinner tonight. I should ask the hotel.”
“But Mom, why don’t you make documentaries anymore?”
I asked Mother directly, refusing to let her change the subject.
If Kim Sanho was talking about her like that, she’d practically accomplished something monumental.
And yet I’d had no idea about Mother’s achievements until I heard about them from someone else.
“She suddenly announced her retirement, didn’t she…? I remember the broadcasting station was in an uproar back then… Was it 2001?”
“…”
2001.
Exactly one year before I was born.
After doing the calculation, I quietly closed my mouth.
Because without anyone telling me, I’d already figured out why Mother had stopped working as a documentary director.
Mother didn’t offer any explanation either. She simply adjusted my clothes, tidying them up for me again.
She gave up her career to have me.
To become pregnant, give birth, and raise her child.
Feeling my chest tighten with sudden emotion, I threw my arms around Mother.
“Thank you, Mom.”
“Hm? What’s gotten into you, Siwoo? You’re even hugging me first.”
Even though she answered as if nothing were wrong, there was a trace of tears in Mother’s voice.
I knew that, at times like this, hearing thank you was more comforting than hearing I’m sorry.
Because raising her child well must have been the path Mother had chosen for herself.
Rather than pitying or sympathizing with her, I wanted to tell her that the time she’d spent raising me was just as valuable.
That her courageous decision had been the right one.
Because thanks to that decision, her son had been able to begin this new life and grow up happily.
I wrapped my arms tightly around Mother’s neck once more and made a promise to myself.
Someday, I will repay her for all the years she has devoted to me.
“I’m back!”
Just then, the door to our hotel room opened, and Nam Yeonsu appeared.
With both leading cast members finally gathered, Kim Sanho clapped his hands to brighten the atmosphere.
“Now, now! Let’s leave the stories of the past there and get started with today’s filming, shall we?”
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